I printed out an outline of the state of Maine and traced it with my Clover Chacopen onto the fabric. I then hand-wrote all the text with the Chacopen.

I embroidered the state of Maine with 3 strands of DMC #823 using backstitch. I outlined that once more with DMC #453 in backstitch. This ended up being useless because you can’t see it and it didn’t make a difference. I embroidered “the way life” and “be” with 3 strands of DMC #823 using stem stitch. Unfortunately, that didn’t come out very well and I was too lazy to fix it. “Maine” and “should” are embroidered with 3 strands of DMC #891 in split stitch. Funny because split stitch needs to be done with an even number of strands. Oops. The hearts I embroidered with backstitch fill.

Here’s the finished product!

I’m actually fairly happy with how it came out! My friends said I could sell it on etsy. ^.~ I think I’d get a lot of bad reviews if I did. hahaa

>>> the aspiring FAILS > >

Outlining the state of Maine in DMC floss #453 for no good reason

Using an odd number of strands to do the split stitch

Using stem stitch very poorly to embroider most of the words

Making “should” crooked

Oh, and you should see the french knots

All in all, a fun project. It only took me about two weeks. ( : I might try to make it into a hoopla using a tutorial I found online. We’ll see!